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Hello All,

Here is my first official email from Pizza Port. This week I am
sending out all of the info for the Strong Ale Festival. I know this
email is huge, but there is a lot of good info here. All of the info was
taken from the press packet that I have been putting together. I'm also
including my latest brew recipe and a few other updates. Hope to see you
all at the Fest--to avoid any crowds, show up early.
And one homebrewing note here--the info on the America's Finest City
competition is available down at the Linda Vista Home Brew Mart. The
organizers, Quaff, will also have a web page up and running. When I know
for sure that it is ready, I will pass along the address.
Cheers,
Tom

CONTENTS:

PIZZA PORT
PUB UPDATES
STRONG ALE FEST
BEERS AND BREWERIES
BASIC PROCESS
STYLES
HISTORY
ORGANIZERS
RECIPES

PIZZA PORT

This Thursday, Dec 11th Pizza Port Solana Beach will debut its new
Double Overhead Abbey Ale. It is a Belgian Style Dubbel brewed with many
Belgian grains, candi sugar and of course a Belgian style yeast strain
(from White Labs). The party will happen from 6-11pm. Get a limited
edition T-Shirt and Pint glass for $10 while the shirts last. The design
features a monk cathcing a wave--its a cool shirt. I'll be there along
with head brewer Tomme Arthur, so we will see you there!

Every Wednesday is Wing and Cheese Stix night at the Port. Only
$.15 each for wings or stix. Come by this Wednesday and check out the
great selection of guest beers including: AleSmith's Wee Heavy, Ballast
Point's Copper Ale, Stone's Pale Ale and Arrogant Bastard Ale, and
Anchor's Old foghorn Barlewine!

Local Draft Pick for Monday, December 15th is from the La Jolla
Brewing Co. brewed at the new Mission Brewery facility. $2 pints and $6
pitchers during the game--Denver at San Francisco, should be a great one!!!

PUB UPDATES

Del Mar Stuft Pizza has a new head Brewer, Andy Schwartz. He
previously worked in Colorado where he won a gold medal for his stout. He
has only been there a few weeks, but expect a big turn around in many of
the beers at Stuft Pizza. Their holiday ale, a Belgian Strong is on tap
right now as well.

AleSmith will be seving a keg of its fantastic Yulesmith through a
beer engine this Thursday, Dec. 11th at O'Brians in Clairemont. This is a
great chance to try a great beer on a hand pump at a reasonable price!

STRONG ALE FEST

1st Annual San Diego Strong Ale Festival

What: The 1st Annual San Diego Strong Ale Festival. A unique collection
of local strong ales on tap in one location for one night. Many of the
beers we will be serving are not available outside of the brewpub in which
they were made. Every beer featured will contain at least 8% alcohol by
volume. Taster glasses will be poured in 4 oz samples.

When: Thursday, December 18th from 5:00 pm until 11:00 pm. Media hour
from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm with special tasting and brewery tour. Raffle to
be held at 9:00 pm. Anouncement of people's choice awards at 10:00 pm.

Where: Pizza Port Carlsbad at 571 Carlsbad Village Drive in Downtown
Carlsbad. the restaurant is one half mile West of I-5 at Roosevelt Street.
Phone (760) 720-7007.

Why: To drink great beer and to promote awareness and understanding of
hand-crafted beers in San Diego. Wintertime brings with it a taste for
stronger, more aggressive beers. This festival will highlight these
special, locally produced seasonal beers. As people learn more about what
they are consuming, they understand the different tastes and styles. Beer
appreciation means thinking about and enjoying what you are drinking rather
than just chugging a cheap domestic.

Who: Beer enthusiasts everywhere!

San Diego Beer Scene:

There are 19 microbreweries and brewpubs in San Diego County producing over
150 different beers. Only ten years ago San Diego was without a local beer
producer. San Diego breweries have won three medals at the Great American
Beer Festival in Denver, including two Golds. Bottled beer is available
from four different local breweries around town. San Diego's brewing
community is bolstered by a strong and active homebrewing community. There
are over a half dozen homebrew supply shops providing avid brewers with
their ingredients. San Diego is also home to more than 7 home wine and
beer making clubs. The brewers and homebrewers all help contribute to an
active brewing scene that includes competitions, beer festivals, tastings,
and pub crawls.
This festival was endorsed by the San Diego Brewers Guild. The guild is a
professional organization for brewers in San Diego. It meets once a month
to discuss activities and ways to promote locally produced beer.

BEERS AND BREWERIES

Beers and Breweries Participating

All participating breweries are listed in alphabetical order. Included is
address and phone number and whether the brewery is in a pub restaurant or
just a microbrewery. Each beer is listed in bold along with the
traditional style, alcohol by volume and the brewer or contact for each
brewery.

1. AleSmith Brewing Company Microbrewery
9368 Cabot Drive (619) 549-9888
Beer: J.P. Gray's Wee Heavy Style: Scotch Ale
Alcohol: 8.25%
Brewer/Contact: Skip Virgilio

2. Baja Brewing Company Brewpub
203 5th Avenue (619) 231-6667
Beer: Baja Belgian Trippel Style: Belgian Trippel Ale
Alcohol: 9.4%
Brewer/Contact: Jim Owens

3. Ballast Point Brewing Company Microbrewery
5401 Linda Vista Road Suite 406 (619) 298-2337
Beer: Navigator Barleywine Style: Barleywine Ale
Alcohol: 10.5%
Brewer/Contact: Peter A'Hearn

4. Del Mar Stuft Pizza and Brewery Brewpub
12340 Carmel Country Road (619) 481-7883 or (760) 414-5705
Beer: Belgian Holiday Ale Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Alcohol: 8.0%
Brewer/Contact: Greg Distefano

5. Hang Ten Brewing Company Brewpub
310 5th Avenue (619) 232-6336
Beers: Barneywhine Style: Barleywine Ale
Alcohol: 9.5%
Toes Over Stout Style: Imperial
Stout Alcohol: 9.2%
Brewer/Contact: Paul Segura

6. La Jolla Brewing Company Brewpub
7536 Fay Avenue (619) 456-2739
Beer: Blitzen Holiday Ale Style: Old Ale
Alcohol: 8.0%
Brewer/Contact: Dr. John Atwater

7. Pizza Port/Carlsbad Brewery Brewpub
571 Carlsbad Village Drive (760) 720-7007
Beer: Elfin Holiday Ale Style: Herb and Spice Beer
Alcohol: 8.0%
Brewer/Contact: Vince Marsaglia

8. Pizza Port/Solana Beach Brewery Brewpub
135 North Highway 101 (619) 481-7332
Beers: Old Boneyards Barleywine Style: Barleywine Ale
Alcohol: 9.7%
Santa's Little Helper Imperial Stout Style: Imperial Stout
Alcohol: 10.2%
Brewer/Contact: Tomme Arthur

9. San Diego Brewing Company Brewpub
10450 Friars Road (619) 284-2739
Beer: Red Star Stout Style: Imperial
Stout Alcohol: 8.4%
Brewer/Contact: Charles Hudak

10. Stone Brewing Company Microbrewery
155 Mata Way (760) 471-4999
Beer: Turbo Arrogant Bastard Ale Style: None
Alcohol: 8.5%
Brewer/Contact: Steve Wagner

BASIC PROCESS

The Brewing Process

The basic ingredients in beer are malted barley, hops, yeast and water.
This sheet will give you a quick look at how these different ingredients
come together to make a standard beer.

Malting

Raw barley kernels are malted by allowing them to soak in water. This
activates natural enzymes within the barley that start to convert starch to
sugar which the growing plant uses as food. The grain is then kilned or
dried at a low temperature to preserve these enzymes.

Mashing

The malted barley is cracked to expose the starchy inside. The cracked
grain is then soaked in warm water for one hour. This process, known as
mashing, reactivates the natural enzymes to convert all of the starch in
the barley into sugar, some fermentable, some not. The sweet water, or
wort is then drained from the grain. Additional water is rinsed, or
sparged over the grain to collect any residual sugar. The wort runoff is
collected in the boiling kettle.

Boiling

The wort (pronounced wert) is boiled for one hour. During this time hops
are added. Hops contribute the bitterness as well as flavor and aroma to
beer. Hops that are boiled with the wort for the full hour add in
bittering resins to the beer. Hops added at the end of the boil contribute
volatile flavor and aroma oils. It is because beer was boiled that it was
often safer to drink than well water throughout much of history.

Pitching

The wort is cooled down to room temperature after the boil. Once cooled,
the yeast is pitched into the beer and fementation begins. During
fermentation the yeast metabolize the simple sugars into alcohol. As a
product of this reaction the yeast release carbon dioxide and esters, which
are unique fruity flavors given off by different yeast strains. The yeast
eat up only certain sugars, leaving others behind to create the body of the
beer. The natural sweetness of the malt is balanced out by the bitterness
of the hops.

Serving

After fermentation the beer is allowed to age for two weeks before it is
ready to serve. Some beers require more time, some less depending on
alcohol and the strength of various flavors. Once the beer is aged it is
carbonated and ready to serve. Malt has become beer!

Ales and Lagers

All of the beers in this festival fall into the broad category of ales. An
ale is any beer fermented at room temperature (60-77 degrees) as opposed to
lager beers which are fermented at cold temperatures between 45 and 55
degrees. Pale Ales, Porters, Stouts, Wheat Beers, Nut Browns and Honey
Beers are all examples of common ales. These beers have a full, rich
characteristic balanced with a slight fruitiness from the yeast
fermentation. We have seven different styles of ales represented in the
festival.

STYLES

Beer Styles

We have seven traditional beer styles represented in the festival. We have
three beers each in the Barleywine and Imperial Stout categories. Below is
a description of the common characteristics of each style.

Barleywine
This is not a wine, but rather a beer brewed to wine strength. It
is traditionally the strongest style of beer with alcohol contents ranging
from 8% to as high as 12%. The color will be tawny to deep amber, almost
brown. As with many of the strong ales, barleywines are aged for long
periods to allow the beer to mature just like a wine. The flavor is vinous
and rich. British versions will allow the sweet malt and fruity
characteristics to dominate while the American style has a pronounced hop
bitterness and aroma. The finish should be smooth and warming.

Belgian Ale
The Belgian Ale category is divided into 7 sub-styles. Most of the
beers are marked by a strong yeast fruitiness that can give off hints of
banana and nutmeg. Belgian breweries often use a unique house yeast strain
to create very different flavor profiles for beers that fall within the
same category. We have two sub-styles of Belgian ales represented in the
festival.

Trippel
This is a strong golden colored ale with little hop character. A
spicy, alcoholic aroma will come through over a subtle fruitiness. Rock
candy sugar is used to add fermentable sugars in place of additional malted
barley. This leaves the beer high in alcohol and warming without being too
thick or full bodied.

Belgian Strong Ale
This is a broad category that encompasses beers of many colors.
The common thread between them is a warming alcoholic flavor and a light to
medium body. Belgian Strongs are allowed more hop bitterness than a
Trippel, while hop flavor and aroma will usually be very low. The overall
impression is a big, fruity, warming beer without too much body and a good
malt character.

Imperial Stout
This is a sub-style of the Stout category. Stouts in general use
unmalted roasted barley to develop a dark, coffee-like character. Imperial
stouts are darker, richer and often more fruity than a normal stout. The
high alcohol content blends with the predominant roast character to give
this beer a unique flavor among stouts. The style originated due to the
popularity of British Porters and Stouts in Czarist Russia where they were
drunk as a Winter warmer. To survive the long trip by sea, brewers made
the beers with more alcohol and extra hops. Alcohol and hop oils both act
as natural preservatives to keep the beer fresh. The stouts gained favor
in the Imperial court of the Czar which lent the name to the style of
stout.

Old Ale
This style is a lower alcohol cousin to the Barleywine. Old Ale
will have less alcohol warmth and fewer wine-like flavors than a
barleywine. The beers are often dark in color, ranging from amber to dark
brown. Hop flavors and bitterness are low leaving a malty finish. With an
alcohol range of 6% to 9%, some lower alcohol barleywines are better suited
as Old Ales.

Scotch Ale
This is a sweet, malty strong ale. The flavor will have big notes
of caramel and malt with virtually no hop flavor or aroma. The Scottish
use the name "Wee Heavy" to denote the strongest of Scotch Ales, usually 7%
to 10% alcohol by volume. These beers will have low hopping rates which
leave the beer with very little bitterness. Hops were first used in the
U.K. in England and were initially resisted in Scotland as being an
"English" ingredient.

Herb and Spice Beer
These beers use herbs or spices to flavor the beer in place of or
in addition hops. Practically any cooking herb or spice can be used in
beer. Holiday versions usually include some of the following: cinnamon,
allspice, nutmeg, cloves, orange peel, honey and vanilla. Each beer will
be different and accent different spices.

Traditional Serving Methods

In keeping with traditional British serving methods, two of the
beers at the festival, AleSmith's Wee Heavy and Ballast Points Barleywine,
will be served on beer engines. Rather than pushing the beer to the tap
with compressed gas, beer engines pull the beer from the keg by hand. As
the beer is drawn from the keg it is forced through a screen which break
the carbon-dioxide in the beer out of solution. this leaves the beer with
a rich, creamy head and less carbonation. The lower carbonation level
allows more flavor from the beer to come through. It also lets enjoy
drinking the beer without feeling gassy or bloated.
Serving beer with a nitrogen and carbon-dioxide mixture like
Guinness mimics this effect with modern compressed gas. Both beer engines
and nitrogen tapped beers produce a cascade of foam in the glass when first
poured.

HISTORY

Pizza Port - Tasty Grub and Grog

Pizza Port was established in 1987 when siblings Vince and Gina
Marsaglia started making hearty pizzas. We were excited when people would
make a point to tell us it was the very best pizza they've ever had. Our
customers and employees have always been truly genuine people that helped
build this place from constructive ideas and pure loyalty. While the
restaurant was taking off, Vince and Gina started brewing beer as a hobby.
As they began brewing more than they could leisurely drink, they really
wanted to share some of the incredible brews that they created with
customers. So the decision was made to cram a 7 barrel (217 gallons)
brewery in the small unused square footage that was available. The
planning, licensing and permits took 2 years and the actual build out took
3 months!

We celebrated our first handcrafted beer sold on the premises in
October of 1992, when Solana Beach Brewery was added to our name. Now we
also get really excited when people travel miles just to taste their
favorite brew. It's hard to believe its been 10 years of sharing good
times with everyone that walks through our doors. This has proven to be
our infinite reward for a true labor of love.

Pizza Port's ten year anniversary was celebrated by opening a second
location in Carlsbad. By this time we confirmed that only a true love of
beer could tell the blood, sweat and tears story of how it all progressed
to this. It has been exciting to offer different styles of our own beer on
tap and experiment a little more with recipes that push the envelope on
hopping and alcohol strength. We have also been able to serve more guest
beers to ry some of the other great beers that are out there. And yes, we
serve the same great pizzas at both locations.

We are continually exploring new styles and planning events to help
promote and educate the growing number of beer enthusiasts that visit Pizza
Port. Every month brings a new calendar of beer events and specials
including pint nights, wing nights, cheap pitchers and release parties for
new beers. We also organize an annual pub crawl through San Diego. We
load up a bus with thirsty beer enthusiasts and sample San Diego's finest
brews. The Strong Ale Festival furthers our commitment to bring increased
awareness and enjoyment of quality beer. There is no excuse to drink bad
beer!

ORGANIZERS

Festival Organizers

The Festival was the brain child of Tomme Arthur and Tom Nickel. While
milling grain one afternoon they began to talk about all of the great
seasonal ales that were going to be available in San Diego this Winter. It
was quickly agreed that it would be great to try and get them all together
for one fantastic evening of beer tasting. The Strong Ale Festival was
born!

Tomme Arthur is the head brewer of the Solana Beach Brewery at Pizza Port.
Tomme, a San Diego native, started brewing beer at home four years ago.
He was formerly the assistant brewer at Cervecerias, La Cruda Brewery
downtown in the Gaslamp Quarter. While there, he and head brewer Troy
Hojel won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver for
their Makanudo Porter. Tomme became the brewer at Pizza Port in June of
1997 and at 24 he is the youngest head brewer in town. Since then he has
created several new seasonal ales at the Port including Ale Nino Autumn
Ale, Dubbel Overhead Abbey Ale and Santa's Little Helper Imperial Stout
(which will be on tap at the Strong Ale Festival). Tomme has a passion for
brewing Belgian Ales so look for new Belgian beers on tap next year.

Tom Nickel works alongside Tomme Arthur at Pizza Port. Also a San Diego
native, Tom began brewing beer with friends over 6 years ago at the age of
19 (It is perfectly legal to brew your own beer even if you are not 21!).
After graduating from Yale University in 1994, he worked for several years
at Home Brew Mart in San Diego. During his time there he taught countless
people how to brew their own delicious beer at home. Tom is now organizing
a way to get some of Pizza Port's great beer into bottles. In the Spring
he will also take on cellaring duties for cask conditioned ales to be
served out of two traditional British beer engines at the Port. When not
brewing beer at work or home, Tom keeps busy by making mead, a traditional
wine made from fermented honey instead of grape juice.

RECIPES

I finally did the all-grain class and I am passing along the recipe
from it. I wanted something like Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale. Its a
big, deep amber beer with plenty of malt character and hop aroma. It is
technically an IPA style beer, though in a contest it would be judged as
being too dark.

Tom's Grandfaloon Ale

10# Great Western 2-Row
1.5# 80L Crystal
1# Caramunich

1.25 oz Chinook Flowers - 13.5%AA - boil
1 oz Cascade - 15 minutes
1 oz Centennial - Finish

White Labs California Ale Yeast

I mashed at 151F for one hour with a standard one hour boil. I may yet
dry-hop this beer depending on what it tastes like into secondary. If I do
I will let you know. I would most likely use .5 oz each of cascade and
centennial.
If you are wondering about the name, read some Kurt Vonnegut--especially
Cat's Cradle. If I can find a relevant passage for next week that defines
it, I'll write it in.

Extract Version:

9# Pale Malt Extract

1# Caramunich
1# 80L Crystal

1.5 oz Chinook Pellets - 10.6% - Boil
1 oz Cascade - 15 minutes
1 oz Centennial - Finish

White Labs California Ale Yeast

Thats all for now!
Tom

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